Dried Lavender
by BlueCampanula
Summary: Not everybody gets a second shot at life, but she somehow did, even if she got the short end of the stick. OC Rin. Undergoing rewrite.
1. Chapter 1

**Arc One**

**Chapter one**

* * *

**...**

An ambush?

Or an explosion?

She wasn't sure exactly. All she knew was that in the next moment her body was being embraced by the cold. Looking above, the sunlight was drifting further and further away. The girl knew that she had to do something—to get out of this mess, yet for some reason her legs refused to cooperate. This whole entire situation was undeniably familiar.

Her body was locked in place, both arms and legs losing feeling. She could feel the aching in her chest and started to feel oddly tired with the heavy weight of darkness crushing her. Eyes glancing back at the light, the realization hit her just how far away it was. Why was she fighting anymore? With how things were, she wasn't going to make it anyways. And ever so slowly, her eyes began to shut.

She was tired and a nap...was starting to sound nice.

"_You're just going to let them die then!?_" A panicked voice jolted through the darkness.

The girl's eyes opened slightly at its call. She wanted to reply to it; to tell it no. But then again…

Who was it?

Who was going to die?

* * *

**...**

It was in the beginning that everything felt like a dream.

It was a feeling akin to _déjà vu_. Everything was strange, everything was off, and her vision seemed to be playing tricks on her. Much of what she went through and what she had witnessed at first was hazy. The things she saw, the people she came to know, and the surroundings she was in were all different, yet familiar at the same time.

But the one thing that struck her as odd was the fact that everything around her was much too big. Upon first looking at her hands as well, she realized that they were much too small for somebody her age. And then she couldn't help but wonder: _Come to think of it, what was my age?_

A question that was so simple for any person to answer couldn't be answered in her mind. No matter how hard she searched, she came up empty. And that question was one of many that followed. This all happened after the first night that that dream—that nightmare—happened.

Who was she?

Where was she from?

There were simple questions like that which went unanswered. The only answers that were there in her mind were random and vague, seemingly unconnected in anyway with who she was. And it was right away that she didn't feel like she belonged where she was. In her mind, she knew that she was somebody who belonged somewhere.

It just so happened that it wasn't the place she was now.

Blank faces whose names she didn't know floated through the vast emptiness of her mind, some of them with their voices echoing in familiarity to her. She figured that those were people she once knew. They had to be, right? They were there, she had discovered, along with all the other useless information trapped in her head. Places she knew of, stories she'd heard, and a language once so familiar. Those were the only things left over in her mind and none of it matched up with what she was seeing. The other memories, the ones she could use to identify herself with, were all gone.

Carved out and left void.

And it was the second time that the nightmare occurred—and the very same—that she finally came to a conclusion, one that nobody would ever want to think of.

_That_ had happened.

It was then that she figured that perhaps everything she was seeing wasn't actually real; that perhaps it was her way of coping with what had happened. But it was also after the second nightmare that her mind became 'awake' and that she realized every face that she saw and every experience she had—all of it was very, _very_ real.

It was as if somebody snapped their fingers and destroyed that peaceful trance she had been in; cold water to the face. The more she tried to think and find the answers to who she was, the more difficult it was to find.

Her appearance…She always had brown hair and brown eyes, right? And she took after her mother, the only parent she'd known. But her conscious begged to differ at the thought that Japanese was the first and only language she knew; something that at the same time it was trying to convince itself that it was the truth.

English.

English it cried.

Why…did it hurt so much to think about those things? She wasn't so sure. It was as if her memory was familiar and then foreign at the same time. And it was tearing her apart. It was as if somebody had mashed her own thoughts together with someone else's, making a messy collage in the process. And that was how she could describe her memory loss—her amnesia.

She knows.

Thinking like that could really make a person hurt on the inside.

And it did.

After realizing just how messed up she felt, she lost countless nights of sleep and even cried over it (or maybe it was the fact that she was an infant with no control over herself). And with the passing of each and every day afterwards, she struggled with her mind to find something, anything that would bring her ease.

And then it was a single thought that brought her to her senses: she was alive.

She was alive.

She was alive.

There was no need to linger on any dark thoughts.

In fact, there wasn't a need at all to linger on the thoughts she didn't have. The only thing that really mattered was that she was indeed living. A new face, a new body, different surroundings—that's all she really needed. Sure, she was going to take all the knowledge she could from her mind, but in order for her to live a sane life, she realized that everything else would have to go. All of this 'who she was' needed to disappear. The only thing that truly mattered was the here and now, not what was in the past.

In certain situations, letting go no matter how hard it sounded was the best option.

And she had a new name as well.

It was Rin Nohara.

* * *

**...**

Author's note: Chapter one of the official rewrite. The story has taken on a different perspective, hopefully allowing a bit more freedom with how I write (It won't be limiting me to just Rin's point of view). It's taken me awhile to getting around to it, but I'm quite pleased with this chapter. I've also decided that a better way for me to go around the story was to break it up into different arcs. I thought it would be more helpful with timeskips and would more sense rather than summing it up in a sentence "And years passed." I just couldn't really wrap my head around that.

And as of what's planned right now, each arc will have a specific purpose in the story. This first arc happens to deal with Rin figuring out her new life and who she is. Hopefully it will help with keeping the story in check and not just going about what her everyday life is (I found that the last version was lagging through that). Let me know what you guys think!

~BlueCampanula


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

**...**

There weren't exactly any books or any manuals to go off of that said how one should live their new life; what to do with the knowledge you had, how to act around others. Rin had realized this in the beginning. It was like throwing a brand new actor on the stage and expecting them to take to a part instantly without a single clue as to what the story was about. Rin needed to sort things out, for instance: where exactly was she?

Where did she live?

While she couldn't find that out for the longest time, she did still think about it. Heck, she took note of the kind of house—or apartment should she say—that she currently lived in. It was from her crib that she could first see the monotonous wood walls that matched right along with the floors in her new home. And each day the early morning sun would peek into her little window, revealing a backdrop outside of buildings vastly ranging in colors.

Peaceful, she thought at first.

When she found herself at last up and walking again (much to the shock of her mother), she toddled around the apartment itself. It was small and about the same plain color as her room. Four rooms in total, with one room conjoined as both the kitchen and the living room. The one thing that actually made the dull wood pop was the abundant and overwhelming amount of green plants inhabiting pots that sat on the floors and tables and which seemed to crawl up the walls. Flowers of different colors too made their presence known among the sharp green, carrying different smells, some of which were sweet and others bitter.

And it happened to be the thing Rin came to love most about it.

'_I must have loved plants at some point_' she couldn't help but think. And it made sense; she did have lingering images of flourishing roses and vibrant daffodils in her head. Seeing her interest in the plants, her mother had even told her that they were medicinal plants. That was Rin's first hint of her mother's own career, that of a nurse at a local hospital she assumed. It would explain the subtle scent of disinfectants lingering on her clothing from when she came home each day.

Rin took note of her mother as well.

A tall lady (coming from the standpoint of a toddler) with the same brown eyes and hair as her, she was gentle and caring towards Rin. It didn't matter how tired she returned from work, but she always smiled for her. Day in and day out, she wore nearly the same outfit too: a simple kimono composed of a soft blue.

When Rin thought about it, she did find a lot of interest in her new surroundings. Everything, from the way her mother was dressed to the tatami matted floor, spoke volumes of the new culture she was in. Eastern culture her mind says. And the language she was learning too pointed more specifically to Japanese. But then it was something else altogether that made her rethink where she was.

If she was in Japan, then where was all the technology she expected to find?

That's right, this new world she was living in, it didn't have some of the things she was used to. Sure there was simple electricity; she watched her mother switch the lights on and off and even observed her using an electric stove. The main things that seemed to be missing where phones, televisions. They weren't anywhere in sight.

In the beginning Rin simply assumed that they weren't rich enough to afford such luxuries, but her tune changed when she first walked outside and saw the village.

A village of all things.

She couldn't believe her eyes either when she first saw it. Compared to how things she knew were supposed to be, this was different. Out on the streets, there were no cars in sight; people just walked from place to place, intermingling with each other in the bustling streets. Stores had open fronts to them where people would walk inside; vendors sat around the corners and peddled their wares.

It was then that Rin realized she must have ended up in a different time entirely.

Oh, how interesting things were going to be.

Something that confused her however was the idea that if she was in fact in a completely different time, why were women walking around in the streets unaccompanied by a man? She must have missed something somewhere unless she was in a new dimension altogether.

And when that thought entered her mind, she laughed at it.

But she didn't know just how right she was.

* * *

**...**

There comes a time in everybody's life where they have a sudden epiphany, a revelation that all of a sudden shines a new life on their existence. For Rin, that happened at the tender age of four. She should have seen the signs that something was wrong with the universe, but she didn't. Rin didn't mind the fact that the whole village seemed to sit in the middle of a forest. She even brushed off the fact that she had seen a crazy (or not so crazy) man leaping across the rooftops on one outing.

And when her mother first said the word shinobi?

She brushed that aside too.

But there Rin was now, standing in silence and looking up with her eyes wide in shock. Her mother tugged at her hand, slightly worried at her sudden silence. Glancing up, the woman finally saw what Rin's own eyes had finally settled on.

The undeniable proof.

"Okaa-san?" She asked breaking her silence. Raising a small finger, she pointed. "What's that?"

She was afraid to hear the answer. It was one she already knew.

"That's the Hokage Monument, Rin-chan." She said kneeling over and tousling the girl's brown hair. "I can tell you a bit more of it later, but first we need to finish grocery shopping, okay?"

Rin nodded in silence, the smile dropping from her face and replaced by a pensive look.

The Hokage Monument.

It was missing a face, but it was the exact same. Why did she even ask that question in the first place? Was she expecting the answer to be Mount Rushmore? It was more familiar than Rin was comfortable with; how could she forget something like that?

The place she was in? She had yet to hear the name clearly; something about leaves. In the back of her mind though, she knew what it was called.

_Konohagakure_.

And there were shinobi—ninjas. People who could and most certainly did travel along the rooftops.

Rin mind was already racing with one single thought: what exactly did she remember about that one show…Naruto?

"_Come on, you know this…"_

She closed her eyes for a brief second. Black and white pictures fluttered by, depicting unnamed faces and thrilling fights; that was about all she had. And was her face among them? Not at all, but she did know that her name was familiar and not just because it was the one she was given.

What did this mean for her?

Rin wasn't too sure. All this started to mean to her was that not all of the things she could remember were useless. She might very well know things that people there didn't even know themselves. The fact that there was one less face on the Hokage Monument already spoke a lot about what had yet to happen.

So this was her new reality: One in which people possessed unnatural abilities that defied any laws imaginable.

But the ending at least was happy…right?

* * *

**...**

"Ne Shizune-chan, what do you know about ninjas?"

Rin sat on the floor with her back against a small cream colored couch.

Where was she now? She was in the comforting setting she knew well: it was the break room at Konoha's hospital. The small room was a frequent place that Rin's mother normally brought her when she worked (it was that or she was left at the apartment under the watch of a neighbor). Rin wasn't normally left alone though. Even now across from her sat another girl a little older than she was. That girl was in that room just about as much Rin was. Short dark hair and dark eyes to match, Rin never fully realized how she faintly recognized the girl and her appearance; her name struck a chord with Rin too.

It was Shizune.

"Kinda something," She said softly. "Oji-san is one."

Looking back on it, the first time Rin had met her she always had a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that the girl was awfully familiar. After seeing the Hokage Monument she finally knew why. Shizune wasn't necessarily the main character, but she was a part of the story all the same; something to do with a blonde lady.

It was through her uncle that the two met. The man's name was Dan Kato. He was a young man who looked a bit younger than Rin's mother and had silvery blue hair and green eyes. Dan was working alongside Rin's mother too on some level; their paths crossed a lot. Appearance wise, Rin would never have guessed that Shizune and Dan were even related had it not been for the girl calling him 'Oji-san'.

At present, Shizune was about the extent of interaction that Rin had with other people aside from her mother or her neighbor. She was fawned over, but Rin never really made much of an attempt to speak with them, especially with how weak her grasp of the Japanese language still was. Her cheeks would flush red in embarrassment each time she couldn't say a word correctly. And Shizune was at about the same level she was with speaking, something that comforted Rin into opening up her own mouth. They were peers; she wouldn't be laughed like with the older crowd.

Smiling the other girl continued speaking.

With Rin's eyes being opened about exactly the world she was in, she snapped to attention with every word spoken by her mother, her neighbor—anyone she could listen to for that matter, even Shizune. She was trying to piece together what was happening in the chaotic world of shinobi, what was going on. So far, and much to her dismay, everything she heard was evidence pointing at war. It even matched up with what she had seen.

Rin's mother was always working late at the hospital, always being called in on the side too and sometimes in the middle of the night. Her neighbor, Haru, who was usually called in to watch her on those occasions even went along with it, not really questioning it and instead asking about the status of things at the hospital.

Walking in and through the hospital too one could see carnage hinting at war. Sure there were some beds occupied by civilians, but for the most part the people who took up the cots were heavily bandaged and grievously injured. Rin had come across more than a few weeping people too and all in all, her new reality was shaping up to be kind of scary.

"Rin-chan? Are you still there?" Shizune said waving a hand in the girl's face.

Breaking out of her thoughts, Rin nodded back at her. Whenever she asked her questions, Shizune did tend to wander off with what she was talking about, much like any young child would. Though Rin didn't want to admit it, she sometimes found her mind wandering when that happened. But just because she wasn't listening didn't mean she didn't hear her.

"You were talking about Tsunade-sama, right?" Rin said back.

"She's so cool! She helps lots of people too and knows medical ninjutsu." The girl said with a proud grin. "Tsunade-sama said she'd teach me too!"

Rin's expression dropped slightly with curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Teach you how to use Chakra?" She added in question to the excited girl. That was something she hadn't put much thought into even with her recent discovery. Rin's mind had been completely overwhelmed by her own personal discovery. She even found herself admitting that sometimes she envied Shizune's way of thinking. It was free, not held down with the knowledge that weighed heavy on Rin's mind. What would things have been like for her if she didn't know what she did?

"Mmhmh! I'm gonna be a med-nin too, just like Tsunade-sama. I'll be helping everybody that way!"

Perhaps she would be happier…Then again, Rin was also glad for the things she knew. It was a different kind of freedom in itself.

"What about you, Rin-chan? Do you want to be one too?"

"A ninja?" Rin said blankly in response. "I've never thought of it before…" What Rin said was the truth; she had never even remotely considered dealing with chakra at all. That was the kind of logic her mind followed. It still told her that chakra wasn't real, that it was merely a part of a story. Shizune's question caused her to pause for a moment. In that world, she _would_ be capable of wielding chakra just the same as everybody else there.

A superhuman power right at her fingertips.

The question was: did she want to go down that path?

From what Rin had seen, death in this world was everywhere, and walking down the path of a ninja was a surefire way for her to get killed. And then there was that single thought that who she was—Rin Nohara—had died before. She could vaguely remember that that Rin had been Kakashi Hatake's teammate and with what little she could remember of her, she had little doubt that something had happened.

How: she didn't know.

When: not a single clue.

It was just a single small feeling in the back of her mind that that was what happened.

"It would be so much fun! Just think of it, we could work together!" Shizune chirped.

Rin looked back at the girl, a smile forming on her face. She had already died before, so what difference did it really make? She was granted a second chance and even presented with the ability to use chakra—an opportunity that she would be a fool to miss out on. Sure, the outlook in the direction she was looking seemed bleak, but as it was said, 'no use crying over spilled milk. Better yet, maybe she could prevent that glass from tipping over in the first place.

"Know what? You're right." Rin finally answered. "It'll be a lot of fun!"

And hard work, but for the moment Rin was willing to overlook that.

She had a whole other life ahead of her, one that was hers to live as she saw fit. The circumstances may have been a little different from her last life, but she wasn't about to sit out on the opportunity of a lifetime all because of a few sour thoughts. No, she would train. Train hard and hopefully learn all that she could. Whatever was to come, she would face it head on and, who knows, maybe she would eventually rub elbows with the main characters.

And with any luck, things would go smoothly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

...

Rin wished there was some way to recover her old memories.

Not too much time passed after her life altering discovery that Rin started to get bored, and fast. She could recall bits of information about chakra and about the story as a whole, but not much of it was conclusive. Rin was left to her own devices when it came to figuring it out and she was a little frustrated with it.

Despite their slight difference in age, Shizune had finally entered the academy leaving Rin behind. Now more than ever time was passing by at an agonizingly slow pace. Rin's mother more frequently than not left her at home when she went to the hospital each day. The only other person Rin really had for company after that was some neighbor whose name she couldn't remember if her life depended on it.

After the first few days of her boredom, Rin found entertainment in developing a way to sneak out of her third story apartment out of sight from the watchful neighbor. Two attempts and she had succeeded; her mind wasn't truly that of a child's. Walking around in the streets of Konoha had become somewhat of a pass time for the girl. While she knew that there were certain places to avoid, Rin also knew where certain mouthwatering scents wafted from and where popular shops were set up.

There were quite a few parks and even some training grounds she had come across, though the latter she stayed away from; too risky. People watching was something else she picked up. Most of her time, she tried desperately to find any familiar faces, but much to her own luck she found none. Despite her own prior knowledge, it was hard to tell clans apart from regular civilians; that or there weren't many walking around in public.

If anything, she might have run into an Uchiha kid. He was a bratty little thing with long black hair and narrowed eyes. If she didn't know any better, Rin would have thought she was looking at a miniature resemblance of Orochimaru. It was the obvious stick up his ass that gave it away, but then again, Rin wasn't sure.

Other than that, months passed by.

Chakra was an entirely different monster to tackle. Rin did try to be productive in her attempts at using it, but she was stumped. The bare knowledge she held onto wasn't enough and chakra was as slippery to grasp as a shard of eggshell in batter. Thinking about it only made her more annoyed. She felt like she was going nowhere fast, and without the little black haired girl to help, Rin was out of ideas.

Maybe she just had to…wait.

A horrible idea to someone like her, but she had no one to ask about it. Shizune had her uncle to ask questions to, and even Lady Tsunade, but Rin's mother wasn't a ninja—far from it. She wasn't even aware of the ideas swirling around in her daughter's mind.

And that was how things ended up for Rin Nohara in the beginning few months of her awareness.

Alone.

Bored.

Confused.

It was any wonder how she managed to avoid trouble in that time.

* * *

…

Rin sat on the swing and huffed in annoyance. Kicking her feet underneath her, she hung onto the chains and tried to focus her attention on anything other than her own thoughts. She was at the park again today, and she failed yet again to reach out (or should she say in) to her own chakra.

She really found herself missing Shizune too. Despite the girl showing herself to be apprehensive and almost timid, Rin enjoyed her company. Get her started about something she loved and she could babble about it for a long time. Shizune was the only person she had that Rin held semblance to a friend, and now she was busy with the academy.

Slowing to a stop, Rin got up from her seat and started walking away from the playground she was on. There were quite a few other children there, but she couldn't find it in herself to walk over to them or even try to join in on their games. Rin was never quite sure how to act like a child, something that was easily overlooked by little Shizune.

Perhaps it was high time for her to go home anyways.

Right as she turned to leave, however, a noise caught her attention. Turning her head, Rin looked towards the slide that was a few feet away from the swings; there was an odd sniffling noise coming from beneath it, and rather loud too. Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over and ducked beneath the slide. On the other side, a boy sat on the ground, turned away from her.

He was…crying?

"Why are you crying?" She asked despite herself.

The boy seemed to jump at the question and he looked over his shoulder quickly before turning away. "I'm not crying." He mumbled in response. "I just got dirt in my eye, that's all."

Rin could plainly see the ski-like orange goggles propped up on his head and she couldn't help but think that he was lying. Something that piqued her curiosity was the wrinkled up symbol on the back of his blue jacket; a red and white fan. Walking around so she was in front of him, Rin finally got a good look at the boy. What drew her attention, however, was the scrape on his knee; there was a little blood coming from it.

"Here," Rin said looking away from the boy. Digging around in the small pack, she produced a small kit; in it were small bandages, something that her mother gave her to carry around with her just in case. "Let me help you with that."

Kneeling by his side, Rin moved his hands aside and put a small bandage over the cut.

"There. That should help for now, but I would go home and wash it out." She smiled reassuringly and the boy finally looked up. Her smile faltered a bit; she…recognized his face from somewhere. Brushing that aside, Rin stood up and offered out a hand to the boy who looked up at her with his own expression of curiosity; it was as if he was used to people ignoring him.

"Well?" Rin asked trying to break the silence.

In response he grabbed her hand and grinned. She pulled him back onto his feet and he winced. Wiping off a stray tear from his face, he suddenly straightened up and yanked the goggles back down over his face. Before he could say anything else, however, Rin turned to leave.

"I should get going then. My mom's probably going to worry if she finds I'm not home." Shooting him a final smile, she took off running. "Bye!"

She couldn't tell if her actions rendered the boy speechless, but she didn't hear any response uttered as she left. He was an Uchiha, after all, and if she could remember correctly they weren't much for talking. There was a single feeling that she couldn't shake however, and that was the fact that he seemed very familiar to her.

* * *

…

Rin squinted her eyes as she tried to read the kanji print in front of her.

It was something that she struggled with; the reading and writing of the numerous complex characters. Her brush hand wasn't steady and she would easily mistake one word for another because of a slight detail. Granted she was still a young age and had plenty of time to pick up the art, Rin still felt that she was behind. She thoroughly hated that new way of writing, but was doing her best to become better.

It was another day that had gone by, and Rin had brought a book along with her. This time she sat in the shade by the trees; the day was still early and the park was quiet. She was really beginning to feel the weight of every passing day. They all felt the same; monotonous and dry. It made her want to bawl her eyes out or tear at her hair, but Rin wasn't like that.

She was more likely to fume on the inside rather than out.

Throwing in the towel yet again, Rin got up and shoved the book into her tiny knapsack. She walked through the dewy grass and headed back for the streets, deciding to adventure around instead. Trudging along down the path before her, Rin kicked at some stones along the way. It wasn't long before her way was becoming increasingly blocked by more and more people. She clenched her fists but continued on her way as best as she could…until she couldn't see any more.

Perks of being a short child right there.

Moving off to the side of the street, Rin decided to stop and look around for a less packed route. Scrambling on top of some stacked crates, she glanced up and over the crowd, garnering some looks in her direction. That was Rin caught sight of something she never thought she would see: red hair. And not just any red hair—it was fire truck red; an unusual color by her standards. As if she were in a trance, Rin felt herself drawn towards that person.

Slipping down of the crates, she tailed after the long red hair. Weaving in and out between other people, Rin kept her head up and her eyes locked on her target. Whoever this person was, Rin wanted to meet them. There were only a handful of people she could remember with a hair color like that and she had a good idea who it was.

It was only when another wandering pair of eyes met her own that Rin suddenly realized something; she had been spotted. The woman walking beside her target had glanced over her shoulder, her onyx colored eyes meeting brown ones. Nudging the red head in the side, Rin felt her stomach drop as she watched her whisper something in her ear.

"Hey Kushina, I think you've got an admirer."

The reaction was instant.

The young woman with the flaming red hair reeled around as if ready to punch out someone's lights and Rin watched in amazement. The woman's violet eyes were narrowed in accusation, her lips set in an unamused frown. "Alright, what do you wa—" She cut herself off in mid-sentence having caught sight of Rin looking up at her. Crossing her arms, the red head corrected herself. "If you have something to say then say it."

Rin thought for a moment.

The young woman standing in front of her had her hair wrapped up in a high ponytail, a shiny forehead protector across her head. She had a standard flak jacket wrapped around her torso, complete with a chip on her shoulder. Wanting to tread lightly with who seemed like a hot headed individual, Rin said the first thing that came to mind.

"Can I please braid your hair?"

The air surrounding the three of them fell silent.

"Huh?"

Clasping her hands together, Rin pressed on.

"Well, you see, your hair is really pretty and I wanted to braid it! It reminds me of strawberries and I love those a lot!" Putting on her most charming smile, Rin closed her eyes pleadingly and waited for a response.

That was when something she least expected happened. All of a sudden, Rin felt the air being squeezed out of her lungs and she was lifted into the air. "You are so adorable!" The red head shrieked.

"Kushina! You're suffocating the poor girl." Her raven haired friend reminded.

"Oh, whoops." The woman identified as Kushina answered. Almost immediately, Rin felt the pressure around her chest disappear and she was lowered back to the ground. "Sorry about that, dattebane."

"S'okay." Rin wheezed out as she stumbled forward slightly. Her head was still spinning from the lack of oxygen, but she was certain of one thing. She definitely knew who it was now.

"So, I guess I should introduce myself. Name's Uzumaki Kushina and this here," She said slinging an arm around her friend's shoulder, "Is Uchiha Mikoto."

Rin politely dipped her head.

"Mine's Nohara Rin." She answered trying to hold back her own shock. Rin recognized her name from somewhere. She shared the family name of the series' title protagonist. _'How odd'_ Rin noted silently. Maybe the two were related in some way, but she couldn't remember.

And that was how Rin Nohara first met Kushina Uzumaki.

* * *

...

Author's Note: Well, it's been a while... Trying to write in a different style is proving to be a different can of worms and writing outside of first person is proving to be a challenge. I wanted to let you guys know that I've still got this story in my mind; not updating for a few months was painful, but I couldn't get a rewrite quite the way I wanted. This chapter is more or less just expressing Rin's boredom. Things are going to go a little different compared to the first time around and with any luck, I'll be able to type up some more. Most of it is just trying to get through the muck that is Rin's early childhood and attempting to get to the good stuff later on. As they say "Rome wasn't built in a day" (an old cliche, I know).

As a head's up, I've decided to change the story title to give it a fresh take. This story was the first fanfic I ever wrote, and the reason why I wanted to rewrite it was because, looking back on it, I felt that it looked terrible. My writing since then has changed quite a bit and I feel more confident this time around. It's only a matter of sitting in front of my laptop and putting my mind to work.

Sorry for the wait.

Until next time,

~BlueCampanula


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

...

"Want to get some ice cream?"

"Why? It's December. Not to mention that it's freezing outside. Nobody in their right mind would want ice cream at a time like this."

"That's all the more reason to go. No people. Don't you like it that way? Come on. Please, S—? Why not ease up on work for once?"

"Oh, alright, fine. You win."

"That makes the score 37 to 34! You're starting to lose your touch."

* * *

…

"Is that…" Rin trailed off as she stared at a face she had run across before.

Two faces.

"That's Uchiha Inabi," Shizune supplied in a hushed whisper. "He's in one of the higher classes at the academy, but I've heard that he's a jerk. I don't know who that other boy is though. A cousin?"

"I know who he is." Rin paused to correct herself. "Well, I mean I've spoken to him a little before. I don't like this Shi-chan. Should we help him out?" There was a strange tugging in her gut, one that told Rin she couldn't exactly walk away from what she was seeing.

Rin and Shizune were in the park sitting under Rin's favorite tree. There were several scrolls strewn across the ground, as the black haired girl had been studying while Rin was writing. A commotion grabbed their attention, and not far off from where they sat they quickly caught sight of two boys involved in a small argument.

One was the boy with orange goggles from before and then the other boy was the bratty Uchiha Rin had run into a few weeks back.

"Uncle said to avoid picking fights with people at the academy," Shizune responded nervously eyeing the two arguing boys. "He's an Uchiha too. Their clan has some pretty powerful shinobi…I don't think that—wait, where are you going?!"

Rin shot a brief grin over her shoulder at the girl as she began striding towards the older of the Uchiha. "Gather up your stuff and be ready to run," She suggested quietly. Turning her attention back in front of her, Rin saw a look of recognition cross the younger boy's eyes as she approached from behind. She stopped and opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what. Rin hesitated and tried to think about what to do.

What could she do in that situation? Behind her, Rin could tell that Shizune was frantically gathering up the scrolls on the ground.

The older boy's back was to Rin and he didn't appear to acknowledge her presence. He was in the ninja academy, but she wasn't sure what to expect. There was also no telling how the Uchiha would react to any sort of talking, so she weighed two options in her head. One was more civilized, the other was not. It all came down to a single fact. Rin didn't like this snarky boy at all and that made the decision all the more clear.

The uncivilized way it was.

Not really knowing what she would do after, Rin swept out her foot and hooked Inabi's ankle to knock him off balance. Unfortunately, he sensed it coming. Rin did manage to snag her target, but he was more balanced than any kid she'd ever run across. The Uchiha brat easily shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and he was still standing.

And he looked pretty angry.

Rin's eyes widened slightly as she realized her mistake. However, before the older boy could make another move, she watched as he suddenly fell to the ground, a gasp escaping his mouth.

"—Haha, Gotcha!" The younger Uchiha boy shouted victoriously.

He sucker punched Inabi in the gut.

"Holy crap, you got him good!" Rin cheered, snapping out of her own shock. The younger boy looked at her with a toothy grin and adjusted the goggles on his face. Right then Inabi decided to get back on his feet and Rin felt a hand wrap around her wrist. Not waiting for him to get up, the younger boy tugged Rin along, breaking out into a sprint.

"Okay then, let's get going," He panicked.

"H-hey! Wait for me," Shizune called as they raced past her.

The three darted out of the park and into the streets of the village, twisting around corners and ducking through alleyways to avoid the angry Uchiha boy on their tail. Taking the lead, Rin got them to loop around back towards the park before taking refuge near a small, yet familiar tea shop. Shooting a cautious glance down both ways of the street, Rin sighed.

"Safe," She declared.

At her words, Shizune sank down against the wall in relief. "Why would you do something like that?" She said with a whine.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea," Rin started.

"Really," Shizune drawled with an unamused pout. "Next time, leave me out of it. Anyways, I gotta go, Rin-chan. It's getting late and Uncle will be waiting for me." Sending a quick nod to the boy, Shizune turned heel and started walking back towards her home.

"See you later then," Rin said before turning her attention to the younger boy. "Are you alright?"

"Who me?" He answered pointing to himself, a grin crossing his face. "Of course. I'm the great Uchiha Obito, and I wouldn't lose so easy! He was about to run too, you should have seen it! But thanks for the help."

Rin stifled a giggle. The boy, Obito, was obviously lying, yet for some reason she found it amusing. Again, there was a tug in her gut that said this boy was awfully familiar. Maybe his personality was similar to someone she once knew?

"Right, Obito-kun," Rin repeated his name. "My name's Rin. Was that other boy your cousin?"

Obito chuckled.

"Yeah, Inabi-san. I'll probably see him later. Bet you he's scared now though," He jested. "Just wait till I'm in the academy too!"

"You want to be a shinobi?" Rin asked.

"Uh-huh," Obito nodded in confirmation. "I'm going to be starting with the next term and then I'll become the Hokage! Then they'll put my face up on the monument too!" He pointed at the Hokage faces that towered above the village in the distance.

"You want to be Hokage?" Rin questioned curiously.

Maybe…was he like…Naruto?

Rin could see the tips of his ears turn pink at her question.

"Ah—," He tried speaking, but no words came from his mouth.

"I think that's awesome," Rin finished with a polite smile.

Obito perked up at her words. "You're not laughing?" He asked dumbstruck.

"Why would I?" Rin asked. "That's a better goal than I have. I just wanna learn how to use chakra!"

"You mean you wanna be a shinobi too?" Obito said in excitement. "Maybe we can be in the same class!"

Obito started talking, and Rin found herself listening intently. The boy was brimming with energy. Without a doubt, he was one of the most enthusiastic kids Rin had ever come across. If it wasn't for the black hair and eyes, she would never have guessed that Obito was an Uchiha. He wasn't even as soft spoken as Mikoto, Kushina's friend.

"Oh, it's getting late," Rin finally noted.

And it was true.

The sun had already shifted away from its high point in the sky.

"My mother's probably waiting on me!" Rin picked up her small bag and slung it over her shoulder. Obito visibly pouted.

"Aw, really?"

"I guess this is goodbye, Obito-kun! I've gotta run."

"Wait," Obito stopped her. "How about 'see you later' instead? We are going to see each other again, right?"

There was something in his voice that almost sounded pleading. Rin could tell, but she wondered why. Turning back to look at him, she gave him a reassuring grin. "Promise," She said. "We can become shinobi together."

* * *

…

Rin held the brush steady in her hand, a look of concentration on her face.

Smoothly running the brush along the sturdy paper, Rin bit her lip. She wasn't working on her handwriting. This time around she found herself drawing instead. Having arrived home, Rin sat at the small kitchen table while her mother worked on cooking dinner. There was an image that had popped into her mind when she had met Kushina Uzumaki, and she had thought about it again when she walked in the door.

There was something about it that gave Rin the feeling that it was important.

It wasn't just another image without context.

"What were you and Shizune-chan doing today?" Rin's mother asked. She rolled up her sleeves and began cutting vegetables. Apparently she was more comfortable than Rin thought she would be about learning that she was wandering around the village on her own.

"We went and got Dango," Rin answered with a hum. "We played a few games, but Shi-chan also had lots of homework too."

"That's what Shizue and I did too," She commented off-handedly. Rin stilled slightly. It wasn't often that Shizune's mother was brought up. They had been friends as children, but one grew up to be a Kunoichi and the other did not. Despite that, Rin knew that they had been really close before she passed. It helped explain a lot of things to Rin, especially how her mother seemed to be friends with Dan Katō, Shizune's uncle.

Learning that made Rin feel like everybody in Konoha had connections to everyone in some way, but perhaps that was over exaggerating.

"There anything else?" Rin's mother prodded.

Rin smirked slightly.

She was good.

"We met another kid too. His name is Uchiha Obito and he wants to become a shinobi too, just like Shi-chan. He wants to become Hokage too." Rin tacked on as she finished her brush stroke.

"Uchiha?" Her mother repeated as she walked up behind her.

Rin set the brush on the table and turned around, a serious look in her eyes. "Okaa-san? Can I do that too?" She asked suddenly.

"Do what, Rin-chan?"

"I want to become a shinobi too—no, a kunoichi. I want to learn how to use chakra and stuff."

A teasing smile came to the woman's face, a hint of sadness in her expression, but Rin missed it. Looking past her daughter, she picked up the paper that was resting on the table, shaking her head. "You were supposed to be practicing your writing. How do you expect to become a kunoichi if you distract yourself?"

Rin pouted childishly.

"I was writing," she retorted, "but I got bored." It was a partial truth at least. Rin still stood by what she said, that writing was horrible. That was the one thing her mother constantly had her working on and it made her wrist hurt.

"So is this a lollipop then? We can go get some after dinner if you want, but then I want you to try a few more characters, okay?"

"I guess it does look like a lollipop," Rin agreed. On the paper, she had drawn a spiral mask with a single eye hole at the center of the swirling line. She knew that it was supposed to be orange and she knew it had something to do with someone important.

An enemy?

Rin scrunched her nose before pushing the thought aside. She would worry about that later; there was a more pressing issue. "Okaa-san? Can I become a kunoichi then?" Rin realized that her mother had dodged answering the question.

The smile on her mother's face faltered slightly, but she pushed it away. Kneeling next to her daughter, she ruffled her hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're pretty smart, do you know that? Just like your father. But do you understand what you'll be walking into?" She asked cautiously.

Rin nodded her head.

Becoming a ninja meant that she would be involved in death and war, but Rin's mind wasn't focused on that. After what she had been through, Rin figured that she wouldn't fear death, right? There was a reassurance behind it.

"Rin, I want you to know that no matter what you decide, I will stand by you."

"Really?"

"No matter what."

She really was something, wasn't she?

"Okaa-san?" Rin spoke up again. "Can we get ice cream instead?"

* * *

...

_Author's note_: I'm finding my inspiration again. The chapters will get a little longer too eventually. My plan is to start writing again and with any luck I'll type up the next chapter within a few days. The beginning of the story is the hardest for me to write, I suppose. I'm trying to create some background in the story without overloading on pointless information. It might seem like a slow build up, but I've got plenty of plans for things that happen a little later in the story. It's just a matter of working my way towards it.

Anyways, I've tried fleshing out a few more details in this chapter. With any luck, I'll be able to speed things up a bit and get the story rolling. And what's with the first section, hm...I wonder?

I really appreciate all of my readers and my reviewers! It helps a lot knowing that there are people who are waiting for more. I hope that I can keep it up and finally turn this story into the one I first thought of!

Until next time,

~BlueCampanula


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